Preshaped snack pieces are typically frangible and might be fragile and easily broken during packaging, shipping and/or other handling operations. Conventional packaging techniques provide bags and/or boxes that can permit a significant number of the snack pieces to break or crush prior to consumption. The well known Pringles® shaped potato chip snack pieces, a product of The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, are individual snack pieces having a “saddle” shape and are packaged in a manner which overcomes disadvantages of the prior art. The Pringles® snack pieces have conventionally been packaged as a single nested stack in a cylindrical container which provides enhanced protection during packaging, shipping and/or other handling. As a result, the Pringles® snack pieces are typically presented to the consumer without breakage.
The “saddle” shape of the Pringles® snack pieces provide oppositely facing concave surfaces that present curved edges to engage a planar portion of the container when loading the chips. Pringles® snack pieces may be loaded by horizontally positioning an elongated circular cylindrical container and thereafter horizontally inserting a stack of snack pieces therein. As the snack pieces are inserted, the leading snack pieces typically tip over out of proper alignment with the remaining stack until the outer edge of the leading snack piece engages a flat planar surface of the bottom wall wherein the curvature of the outer edge of the snack piece facilitates reorientation of the leading snack piece to form a nested stack of snack pieces.
There is a continuing need for user-friendly, relatively inexpensive containers for packaging various frangible snack pieces to provide protection against breakage during packaging, shipping and/or other handling. It is further desired to provide containers that facilitate loading of snack pieces during production. There is further demand for containers that provide a user-friendly package and provide oxygen and moisture protection to prevent spoilage of snack pieces contained therein.